The "reality effect" is reinforced by the time and pace of the various types of theatre in varying ways. The twitter plays can have a very fast pace because reading twitter conversations allow the reader to feel like they're part of the action, reading along as the events are simultaneously happening.
This reminds me of a time when I was reading conversations and reports on twitter while a high profile news case was unfolding. In April of 2013, the tragic Boston Marathon bombings occurred. Three days after the bombing, I was noticing some strange reports on my twitter feed about a carjacking in a neighborhood of Boston, and that 'crude grenades' were being thrown out of the vehicle.
I just happened to be out with some friends that night, and I obsessively would refresh my feed to stay updated. I was updating my friends constantly, and as we know today, that carjacking, police chase, firefight, and eventual manhunt and capture was all linked to the bombing, days earlier.
Reading news reports on my twitter feed and staying updated to the second made me feel like I was part of the experience, even though I was in a bar in Baton Rouge, not in Boston. The pace started slowly, but quickly accelerated and I couldn't keep away from my phone to see what would happen next.
I think that if a performance artist wanted to experiment with the "right here, right now" of theatre, he or she could set up an exhibit in which they were in a room that was visible from all sides to the audience. The room could be set up as a kitchen or bedroom and the artist's actions would be determined by a twitter feed that the audience controlled. The audience would dictate the artist's actions, and could argue and cancel each other's commands out.
I would definitely feel like I was part of the experience as an audience member in that environment.
I just happened to be out with some friends that night, and I obsessively would refresh my feed to stay updated. I was updating my friends constantly, and as we know today, that carjacking, police chase, firefight, and eventual manhunt and capture was all linked to the bombing, days earlier.
Reading news reports on my twitter feed and staying updated to the second made me feel like I was part of the experience, even though I was in a bar in Baton Rouge, not in Boston. The pace started slowly, but quickly accelerated and I couldn't keep away from my phone to see what would happen next.
I think that if a performance artist wanted to experiment with the "right here, right now" of theatre, he or she could set up an exhibit in which they were in a room that was visible from all sides to the audience. The room could be set up as a kitchen or bedroom and the artist's actions would be determined by a twitter feed that the audience controlled. The audience would dictate the artist's actions, and could argue and cancel each other's commands out.
I would definitely feel like I was part of the experience as an audience member in that environment.
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